Features could be original writing that doesn’t fit into Essays, Reviews, or News – but a feature post will more likely be composed of fun pictures or general nuttiness. We need some place to put it, right?

I really don’t have a whole lot to say this month to kick off the new edition of Lee’s Pull List. I know, I know – I’m shocked, too. It’s my birthday in a couple weeks so I’m hoping for some new trades. And that’s really all I can think about. That and Star Trek, but that’s neither here nor there. So, yeah…Disclaimer Time!! All titles are paperback unless otherwise noted and the suggested retail price is just that: suggested. All of the dates are approximate and subject to change so you should always check with your local comic shop before planning your purchase.

Without further ado, (I got it right on the first try this time, Gorby!), and absolutely no fanfare we begin!

There are 11 different Wolverine books scheduled to come out this month. Which means almost half of what Marvel is putting out into the world of trade paperbacks feature the adamantium clawed, cigar chomping, beer swilling, indestructible mutant, Logan. That’s even more then what they put out two months ago when billionaire playboy Tony Stark made his return to celluloid exploits. It feels a little bit like overkill to me, but what do I know? Anywho, I picked this book out of the throng for literally no other reason then it was the first one I saw and it directly ties in to the new movie. It’s a collection of stories that tell Logan’s origins with the Weapon X project, shed some light on his Japanese love interest and her evil father, (why can’t they just have a well adjusted home for once?), and features members of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Amazing Spider-Man, who, I’m assuming, won’t be in the new movie. Most of the hardcores will all ready have this, but if you’re one of the five people who don’t know anything about Wolverine then I guess go buy this book!

Ok, Marvel redeems its shame less capitalizing with this book. Apparently most of these stories have never been seen by American eyes before. They’re from 1979, and, I would assume, onward and they’re taken from the weekly Hulk Comic that was created around the time the live action series was gaining popularity. There’s some big names involved, including Dave Gibbons and Steve Dillon, and it should be interesting to see what a British take on the Hulk is like.

When I first saw a Castle comic book I kind of chuckled, showed a friend who also thought it was funny and then moved on. But these things keep popping up. Based on the TV series starring Nathan Fillion, (the only reason to watch it), these are stories written by the fictional Richard Castle that would be talked about in the show. I’m assuming part of his Derrick Storm series. It’s kind of meta, but kind of cool, too. And apparently it’s popular because they keep putting them out.

This, very clearly, is not going to be canon as far as the continuing saga of Deadpool is concerned. If you have to read everything the Merc with the Mouth is in, though you’re going to get this regardless. As for what the book is about…well, try this on for size. Killing the marvel universe wasn’t enough because Deadpool is gunning for major literary characters now. Tom Sawyer, Little Women, Scrooge, Gulliver, Sherlock Holmes and more are sliced, diced, shot, stabbed and maimed all for our sick pleasure. Like I said, I don’t think this is canon by any means, but it could be fun and we all need a little fun sometimes.

Speaking of Steve Dillon…I love these books. Maybe the end of the series gets a little muddled and some of the one-offs and last third of the series kind of feels like it’s padding out what I’m sure was a lucrative run, but for sheer, balls-to-the-wall creativity and jaw-dropping fun this series is the go to destination. Anyone who owns volumes 1 through 9 probably don’t need to bother, but anyone who doesn’t should take note as each book contains roughly two volumes at a discounted price. There’s really not a whole lot that needs to be said about this other then: go and get it! Seriously! It’s fantastic!

At first I thought this was new Harley Quinn stuff, like New 52 new, (sheesh!), but it is not. This is the second volume of Harley’s solo adventures to be collected in trade format. The first volume was released…six years ago?! What the what?! How is there not more Harley love going around? And why did it take six years to continue collecting these issues? It’s written by Karl Kesel, too, so I’m sure it’ll be entertaining. This contains two arcs, one where Harley decides to go good, (long before her Gotham City Siren days), and the other has her battling Croc. I don’t know, I’m intrigued.

New 52 Batman and Robin adventures, featuring Damien Wayne as Robin. I don’t need to say much about Batman and Robin. You either like it or you don’t. I do. I mentioned last month how I liked the idea of releasing two volumes simultaneously and I stand by that. Vol. 1: Born To Kill hits stands the same day in paperback format. DC is also releasing two volumes of Stormwatch and two volumes of new Superman shenanigans. Dig it.

For some reason I thought Sweet Tooth was done after Vol. 5. I’m glad I was wrong. I’ve only read the first Volume, but I quite enjoyed it. On paper it sounds kind of ho-hum: post-apocalyptic world, boy who kind of looks like a deer so I started thinking like Road Warrior meets A Boy And His Dog, but it’s really much better then that. Anyone who’s familiar with Jeff Lemire probably all ready knows about Sweet Tooth and his, well, sweet tooth. Anyone who isn’t should start at Vol. 1 or read his fantastic Essex County series. The guys really good at getting genuine emotion, humor and a decent helping of action and making all of it feel totally right.

Oh Negan, what have you gotten yourself in to…? For those of us who wait for the trades we’ll finally get to see what Rick and Jesus have planned for the baseball bat wielding, soliloquy spouting tough guy. I really don’t have a whole lot to say about this other then I LOVE IT! Hands down one of my favorite ongoing series of all time.

I was going to write about this last month, but it was slightly delayed. This is a collection of sketches, stories, poems, anecdotes and pretty much everything in between and around the comics medium all written by women. That might not sound like a big deal but in the boys club that is the comic book world it’s kind of cool to see a female perspective. The first volume of this series revolved around the word Heroic and, like this volume, profits from the book go to charity. This is sweet. Get on it.

I have to assume that this is based on the Japanese movie series and manga, Lone Wolf And Cub. Anyone familiar with LW&C will know the basic story all ready: travelling samurai has a child with him to he must keep safe while killing people and defending his honor. The 2100 version has the samurai played by an android and the cub, Daisy Ogami, is somehow the salvation of a dying future. Lone Wolf must keep her safe from powerful people who want all for their own. It doesn’t sound terribly original but the Japanese movies were quite entertaining for their time and I’m hoping the new adaptation is as well. Dark Horse is also releasing the original Lone Wolf and Cub in Omnibus editions this month as well for those of us who like to see where something started.

I don’t know. I don’t get it. But this is very popular, so here it is. I read that it was one of the biggest hits in the comic book industry for 2012 and one of the most successful “all-ages” comic books ever. Wow. I watched some of the show and I didn’t get why it was so popular. I doubt I’ll read the book even though they’re super popular. I just don’t get it. And pickings were slim this month without double dipping into another companies releases and I decided not to do that.

Last time on Continuity Nerds, we took a timely look into the chronology of Star Trek in commemoration of JJ Abrams’ latest entry into the series’ increasingly forked timeline. Now, in light of Disney’s much ballyhooed acquisition of Star Wars, as well as today’s announcement of the upcoming Star Wars: Rebels television series, let us take a moment to honor those who have devoted such painstaking efforts to codifying the history of a universe inexplicably set in the distant past despite its status as a science fiction mainstay: that of George Lucas’s Star Wars, and particularly its surrounding Expanded Universe.

For many years, Nathan P. Butler’s Star Wars Timeline Gold has been the authority on chronology within the Star Wars Galaxy. While the movies we all know and love or tolerate only cover a span of about twenty years, the rich collaborative history lent to it by novels, video games, and, yes, comics books (hopefully the TRO editorial board will have more on that soon) have taken the scope far beyond that: from the Old Republic Era of five thousand years before the battle of Yavin as depicted in the original film (which you may be familiar with from BioWare’s Old Republic video game series) to Dark Horse’s Legacy comics set over a hundred years after the Rebels [spoiler!] defeat the evil galactic empire in Return of the Jedi, and everything in between.

If you look hard enough, the timeline even features some interesting theories on how “long ago” the events of that galaxy far, far away actually are. (Hint: Star Wars‘ sister franchise Indiana Jones is involved.)

Would you believe that this singular project has cultivated its own devoted community? SWTG features a podcast, reviews, and even its own radio station. And with Disney expanding the franchise to fill the gap between the prequel and original trilogies, and extend it even further beyond, this mainstay of sci-fi nerddom will have its hands full for quite a while. May the obsessive compulsive data sorting be with you!

I can’t believe it’s been a month, my fellow readers! Last month massive flooding hit my town, the worst we’ve seen in over 100 years I’m told, and as roads were shut down and people evacuated I couldn’t help but think, “I can’t wait to get the time to get back online and check up with my favorite four color medium.” And when everyone was safe and everything was clean that’s exactly what I did.

It also made me very happy to see that I’ve gotten some positive response to this little column, or article, or what-have-you that I do and I want to thank everyone who reads, everyone who comments and everyone involved with the site for giving me the opportunity to do this. All right, enough of that mush! Say it with me: “Disclaimer Time”!! All titles are paperback unless otherwise noted and the suggested retail price is just that: suggested. All of the dates are approximate and subject to change so you should always check with your local comic shop before planning your purchase.

OK, this sounds interesting. A crazy virologist wants to try and kill the unkillable Logan by eliminating his healing ability and taking him out. He uses vampires and demigods (WTF?) to try and push Logan to his limits and find out what he’s capable of. I like the idea of a guy who’s all about viruses trying to come up with one that will over ride Logan’s healing ability. Of course the X-Men help him get revenge and apparently some space pirates as well (again WTF?). If you can get past some of those oddities this might be a wild and original ride for fans of the Wolverine!

SRP: 29.99Contains: Wolverine The Best There Is #1-12Indigo, Amazon: May 14TFAW, MCS: May 1

The Wild Man of Borneo is back! And he’s not off to the greatest start with his new X-Force. He gets branded a terrorist and has to fight his foster daughter, Hope. And they have to track down Colossus and figure out why his powers are on the fritz. Sounds like a crappy job, but if anyone can handle all of that and come out looking awesome it’s Cable! Sounds like a few one-off stories collected together to give you a taste of what’s to come from this new X-Force. Oh, there’s also something about them handling the jobs no one can know about, whatever that nonsense means.

SRP: 17.99Contains: Cable And X-Force #1-5 and material from Marvel Now Point One #1Indigo, Amazon: May 14TFAW, MCS: May 1

Do you like Geoff Johns? Do you like the Avengers? Well, have I got the book for you! Mr. DC cheats on his first love and gives us his take on Marvel’s flagship franchise with 3 different stories featuring Earth’s mightiest heroes. First – Thor takes the throne in Asgard and Iron Man tries to keep the Thunder God in line; second – every capital city on Earth vanishes and the remaining mortals look to the Avengers for guidance, and last but not least – Vision loses his memories and seeks help from his creator to reclaim them. Good stuff. Should be fun.

Superior Spider-Man Vol. 1 OK, so I was going to mention this book just so I could write something along the lines of ‘first he was amazing, then he was spectacular, but now he’s superior’, but then I read the plot and my jaw hit the floor. Apparently Spider-Man has been taken over by Dr. Octopus?! I swore I wouldn’t do this again this month, but, I have to give a firm and resounding ‘WTF?’ for this one! I’ll admit I’m not very up to date on my Marvel Universe and maybe I’m missing something, but how is this a good idea? It’s frackin’ nuts! Oh well, maybe somebody’s into it – issue 12 hits the news stand soon.

DC’s been doing something kind of cool lately: the aforementioned book is making its paperback debut this month and, for those of us who don’t like to wait, Vol. 2 is making its hardcover debut in the same month. Not a bad idea, especially if you don’t care about keeping your collection uniform and you just want the story. They’re also doing this with two volumes of Aquaman. Written by Grant Morrison and featuring art by Rags Morales and Andy Kubert the book pretty much sells itself, but if you need added incentive, the book has something to do with the people of Earth turning against Superman, which I swear has happened before, but probably wasn’t written as well and it’s all been given the new 52 sheen.

Collecting the rest of the 1st series of New Teen Titans and the beginning of the 2nd series of New Teen Titans this omnibus will surely please fans of the world’s most famous team of sidekicks. The last omnibus included the best arcs the Titans ever had (Terra Incognito and New Judas Contract respectively), so this omnibus just won’t be able to live up to that amazingness. But, it’s still one of the best ways to get full color reprints of classic Titan action. And with over sized pages it’s also easier on the eyes, making sure you can stay up late in to the night devouring all the angsty fun.

For anyone who’s unfamiliar with Alan Moore’s Eisner Award-winning Top 10 this is the first and only place you need to look. Including Vol. 1 and 2, plus the Forty-Niners original graphic novel and the Smax spin-off it is definitely the Absolute Edition. Precinct 10 is a city full of super powered humans and the men and women of Top 10 are the police force that keep order…or at least try to. This is a joint release between DC and America’s Best Comics and a better use of DC’s resources then re-releasing Watchmen for the hundreth time (seriously, deluxe hardcover edition this month, but who needs it?). It does cost a lot of money, but hopefully it will at least drum up interest in an under read book.

Anyone familiar with the Legion knows that the Dominators usually mean business. And anyone who’s unfamiliar, well, just look at the name. I like the Legion; they’re usually solid, sometimes a little ridiculous, (but, really, what comic book isn’t?) and always entertaining. There’s really not much to say. Fans will enjoy it. Anyone who’s curious might want to start with Volume 1 of their New 52 adventures or check out some Supergirl and The Legion books. Good stuff.

Spawn Origins Vol. 18 I don’t know how this can be called ‘Origins’ when you hit Vol. 18, but, I guess it’s more enticing then ‘Spawn Re-Prints’ which is essentially what this is. I can’t find what happens in the 5 or 6 issues printed here, but I was able to find some hype that lets me know these volumes have exclusive bonus content, including black and white art, cover gallery and…classic quotes? I don’t know if the last one is necessary, but Spawn as a character is pretty sweet and these collections are fairly wallet friendly so that’s all good stuff. Side note: these are also released in hardcover editions with two trades in one hardcover at about twice the price.

This is a collection of…wait for it…Rocketeer Adventures (who’da thunk?). Written and drawn by various people, including Mark Waid and Darwyn Cooke, this is sort of a “best of” from the IDW vaults and includes Dave Stevens’, the creator, first Rocketeer story in 20 years. If you bought volume 1 or 2 of IDW’s take on the Rocketeer you might want to pass on this as it reprints material from those books, but, if you’re curious to see what the character’s like in print this is a good starting point. And then watch the old movie again because it’s actually pretty cool.

Publisher: IDWSRP: 9.99Contains: Various stories from IDW’s Rocketeer booksIndigo, Amazon: can’t find a listing for this on either site…odd….TFAW, MCS: May 8

I’ll admit I only added this one because there wasn’t much exciting me this month in the indie trades, but upon further research this actually sounds kind of intriguing. It’s one of those big cross over books where the publisher takes a whole whack of their characters and forces them to come together to stop some evil. In this case the evil is the Mayan Doomsday Prophecy. OK, I’m not sure how that’ll play out exactly, but with Red Sonja, Dracula and Vampirella, Pantha and Athena, Dr. Herbert West, Ash, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and even Alan Quatermain trying to figure it out I’m sure it’ll all end for the best.

Much like Prophecy, I’m not sure what this is, but it sounds really weird and I like weird so what the heck? Apparently this is a comic book sequel to a cult favorite novel written by Tom DeHaven. There’s been a nuclear explosion and the survivor’s are trying to raise money for surgery…I would assume to fix physical ailments. Again, I’m not familiar with this story, but it’s got grotesque sex shows and, this is what caught my eye, ‘drug-mutant goldfish eggs’. Not sure how any of that will lead to raising money, but, I’m definitely intrigued.

Would you, dear readers, consider yourselves a highly methodical and meticulous people? Particularly, in the pursuit of absorbing niche areas of culture often deemed by the public eye as the purview of “nerds”? Wait, why am I even asking? That’s the entire dang point of this website.

Fortunately, the best thing about the Internet is that whenever we’re feeling like total weirdos, there’s about a million websites out there for people who think just like us to aid in our unlikely hobbies. We at TRO exist to help you sort out comic book continuity by way of trade paperback collection, but if you’re like me, you’d like to bring the same level of organization to all nerdly endeavors.

Fortunately, the Internet can once again accommodate: and in our new “Continuity Nerds” feature, we will highlight the places and projects which do just that.

We begin with that old grand dame of American science fiction television, Star Trek. As we are now well into the Hollywood hype cycle for Star Trek into Darkness, J.J. Abrams’ second blockbuster motion picture entry into his alternate timeline-placed saga, perhaps you’d care enough to boldly go and seek out new entertainment within the series’ traditional continuity.

Well, folks, the Star Trek Chronology Project has you covered. Spanning five television series from the original, far ahead of its time Gene Roddenbery-penned adventures of Captain Kirk to the prequel adventures of (the perhaps superior Quantum Leap’s) Scott Bakula as Captain Archer, and all three series and ten movies in between.

Old hands at sci fi chronology know well that placing the ten pre-Abrams Star Trek films within a canonically sensible order is no easy task. Nor is the division of the later seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and its sequel/spin-offs Deep Space Nine and Voyager, which are all set more or less concurrently. However, the brave heroes at STCP have been hard at work with their captain’s log decoders, and the fruits of their labor are truly glorious.

A brief caveat: notably absent from the Star Trek Chronology Project are the novelizations, comic books, and animated series, all of questionable canonicity: this project exists only to codify the central live action canon, which standing alone paints a more than complete enough picture of this rich and engaging universe of the distant future.

I recommend taking advantage of the site’s detailed and intriguing look behind the curtain, revealing every aspect of their ordering methodology — a truly fascinating read by all accounts. Engage!

Hello TROglodyte’s and welcome to Vol. 3 of Lee’s Pull List! The all-sensational, super fantastic guide to the overwhelmingly crowded world of comic book publishing. Disclaimer time! All titles are paperback unless otherwise noted and the suggested retail price is just that: suggested. All of the dates are approximate and subject to change so you should always check with your local comic shop before planning your purchase. Side effects may include, but are not limited to: giddiness, blissful joy and anxiety over which awesome books to buy and which to sleep on.

Ok, first things first: I generally write this column to highlight books that look cool, but, I’m going to use this time to gripe a little. Do we really need two volumes in the title? I realize the Vol. 6 is not necessarily in the official title, but, it still makes for a slightly redundant mouthful. My Comic Shop has taken it upon themselves to remove the second Vol. from the title and call it Part 1, Amazon and Indigo have called it Book 1 and Things From Another World is rocking the Vol. still. As for the book itself things are sounding a little ‘been there, done that’. It might be the end of the team, (how come teams are always on the verge of ending?), a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is deadlier-than-ever, (how can they always be deadlier than the last time? when are they just a regular, old threat?) and apparently their new attacks have been designed to hurt each member personally. Oh ya, the head of the Evil Mutants also knows all their weaknesses which doesn’t surprise me at all. Hopefully the actual writing is better then the plot.

Delivering Vol. 5 in a series of adaptations of the classic Oz books Marvel once again enlists Eric Shanower and Skottie Young to take the fanciful words and ideas of L. Frank Baum and give them life in four color panels. Anyone who’s read the first four and enjoyed them will surely jump on board for another outing. And for anyone who’s just curious, this is as good a place to start as any since we’re all pretty familiar with the story of Dorothy and Toto by now.

There’s not one, not two, not even three, but, seven books coming out this month with Tony Stark’s affluent paws all over them, including a prose adaptation of Warren Ellis’ Iron Man: Extremis and, randomly, Iron Man 2020. Do you think they’re trying to capitalize on a new movie coming out? Maybe just a little. As you’d expect this is a quickly thrown together book that includes a two part adaptation of Iron Man 2 and a prelude to Iron Man 3. If you absolutely have to have everything featuring the metal-suited avenger then you’ll be getting this. The rest of us probably don’t need to bother and our money would be much better spent on the aforementioned Extremis, which is making it’s trade debut the same day as the prose novel.

Sifting through countless X titles, Avengers books and a multitude of Iron Man titles I was hard pressed to find a fourth feature. Then I saw this little beauty. Just over 250 pages of classic, Hulk-smashing action featured in a classy hardcover volume. Sure beats random one-offs from Spider-Man or reading about Venom being a hero, (what?!!). There’s really not much that needs to be said – this one sells itself. Also check out, Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 4 coming out in paperback on the 24th for a more wallet friendly $25.

I agonized on whether or not to include this, but, in the end I had to. Just read the title, look at the cover art! How could I not? Putting forth what sounds like a highly blasphemous mini-series DC decided to give Vertigo the honors publishing it under their banner , which makes a lot of sense. Apparently an American-Idol style show is used to decide who the mother of the new messiah will be and apparently he grows up to be an angsty teenager who captivates the nation with his punk rock antics. Does this sound f*&^%d? Absolutely! Does it also sound entertaining as hell? Sweet Jesus yes! Can I get an Amen, brothers and sisters?!

This is basically an expanded re-release of the awesome DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore. Anyone who hasn’t read that yet, (whoever that could possibly be), needs to jump on this. Anyone who has read it may want to think about replacing their, I’m assuming, worn out copy. In addition to everything in the first version there is a Voodoo mini-series he wrote for Image in the mid 90‘s and a Deathblow mini-series from ‘99. I’m seriously considering getting this even though my bank account wishes I wouldn’t.

SRP: 24.99Contains: 464 pages of 80‘s and 90‘s awesomeness from one of the greats.Indigo, Amazon – April 9TFAW, MCS – April 3

Featuring Power Girl and Huntress, (the titular daughters of Earth 2), this New 52 title shows how they came to be stranded on our Earth through flashback while showing them working together in the present to stop the Irradiated Man. Featuring art by George Perez and Kevin Maguire and words by Paul Levitz it’s definitely got some star power behind it. Let’s hope it all adds up to something awesome cause a book with Power Girl and Huntress, on paper, doesn’t sound like it’ll work, but, I’m still intrigued enough to add it to my pull list.

Collecting old Flash adventures in chronological order this is essentially a fancier version of Showcase Presents. For the uninitiated Showcase Presents is budge re-prints of Gold and Silver age adventures featuring some of DC’s biggest names. They are a cheap way to collect massive amounts of back issues with each book being roughly 500 pages. The chronicles are basically the same thing, but, they have the issues in full color, which, for some of us, is a big deal and can add to the over all enjoyment. Both the Showcase books and the Chronicle books are roughly the same price so it’s really personal preference as owning both books would be redundant.

Tales of Heroism gone absolutely wrong is how Dynamite chooses to describe this third Omnibus and considering the source material that sounds absolutely correct. For those of us who couldn’t get enough of the Sam Raimi classic Dynamite has been nursing our wounds since 2004, so, by this point, they probably know what they’re doing. Like the previous volumes this one also includes a beautifully gory cover gallery for further pervasive delight.

Similar to Punk Rock Jesus this one got me from the title and begged me to find out more. It sounds like fairly routine zombie territory: plague of the undead trapping a group of survivors somewhere, in this case the somewhere is the San Diego Comic-Con and the group of survivors are, well, nerds. Sounds like it’ll be full of meta-rific jokes, puns and one-liners backed with enough gore to fill a dump truck. Maybe I should be more sophisticated or discerning in my choices but I chuckled at the cover, a take on a classic Walking Dead issue. This seems to be a continuation to what was laid down in Vol. 1 so you might want to start there.

I know I shouldn’t like this or even care, but, I can’t help myself. Anything with even the slightest hint of a link to the 20th Century Fox property and I’m instantly intrigued. This one also has art by Sam Keith and the story by Chew author, John Layman, so I’m extra curious. The plot has something to do with androids being manufactured in secret and sent out to be tested against a hive of Xeno’s while their maker begins to wonder who’s more brutal – man or Xenomorph. Sounds…well, it sounds kind of lame to be honest, but, I don’t care. I want it. It seems to include 5 issues but only equals about 60 pages so I’m assuming this story was printed about 10-12 pages at a time as a second feature. Either way, I can’t wait to see what Sam Keith does with Xenomorphs.

At first I thought this was just a typo, of sorts, but, upon further research it’s exactly what the title says. The martians from Mars Attacks invade different properties from IDW. Goofy? Yes. But, that’s what we’ve come to expect from Mars Attacks and if it isn’t then apparentely I’ve completely missed the point. If you want to see what the martians do when they’re faced with Popeye, Kiss, Real Ghostbusters, Transformers and Zombies Vs. Robots then this is the book for you. Everyone else need not apply.